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Stuff You Should Know

Selects: How Miniature Golf Works

27 Dec 2025

Transcription

Chapter 1: What is the history of miniature golf?

0.031 - 3.763 Unknown

This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.

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4.435 - 17.328 Stephen Curry

I'm Stephen Curry, and this is Gentleman's Cut. I think what makes Gentleman's Cut different is me being a part of developing the profile of this beautiful finished product. With every sip, you get a little something different.

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17.949 - 34.425 Unknown

Visit Gentleman'sCutBourbon.com for your nearest Total Wines or BevMo. This message is intended for audiences 21 and older. Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, Boone County, Kentucky. For more on Gentleman's Cut Bourbon, please visit Gentleman'sCutBourbon.com. Please enjoy responsibly.

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Chapter 2: How did the Ladies' Putting Club of St. Andrews influence miniature golf?

34.405 - 40.631 Josh Clark

Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with the basic business plan? Just one page as a Google doc and send me the link. Thanks.

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41.132 - 45.557 Unknown

Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one page business plan for you. Here's the link.

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46.057 - 55.327 Josh Clark

But there was no link. There was no business plan. I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. I'm Evan Ratliff here with a story of entrepreneurship in the AI age.

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Chapter 3: Who were the key figures in the development of miniature golf in America?

55.947 - 64.176 Josh Clark

Listen as I attempt to build a real startup run by fake people. Check out the second season of my podcast, Shell Game, on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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65.236 - 86.177 Dr. Laurie Santos

Dr. Laurie Santos from the Happiness Lab here. It's the season of giving, and this year my podcast, the Happiness Lab, is partnering with GiveDirectly, a nonprofit that provides people in extreme poverty with the cash they need as part of the Pods Fight Poverty campaign. Our goal this year is to raise $1 million, which will bring over 700 families out of extreme poverty.

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86.678 - 108.373 Dr. Laurie Santos

Your donation will put cash directly in the hands of these families in need. And they'll get to decide how to use it, whether that's school transportation, purchasing livestock, or starting a business. Plus, if you're a first-time donor, your gift will be matched by giving multiplier, which means more money for those in need. Visit givedirectly.org slash happiness lab to learn more and to donate.

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108.794 - 111.679 Dr. Laurie Santos

That's givedirectly.org slash happiness lab.

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112.739 - 132.596 Josh Clark

Hey, everyone. I thought it would be nice to ring in the new year with an easy select filled with Chuck and me reminiscing about our childhood memories of putt-putt and slush puppies. So for this week's select, I give you our August 2020 episode, A Miniature Golf. And I want to take a moment to wish my dear wife, Yumi, a happy birthday. So happy birthday, Yumi.

132.937 - 135.321 Josh Clark

And to you, dear listeners, happy new year.

140.026 - 143.731 Unknown

Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio.

149.879 - 162.236 Josh Clark

Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark, and there's Charles W. Chuck Bryan over there, and there's Jerry there figuring out all the new contrivances of modern life. Yeah, I mean, we should tell people what's going on.

Chapter 4: What obstacles and themes are commonly found in miniature golf courses?

162.276 - 164.379 Josh Clark

I think it's interesting, right? No.

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166.013 - 191.712 Josh Clark

Well, I'm going to tell him. Fine. So Jerry has figured out now how to operate the studio Macintosh recording system and not be in the office. It's pretty great. It's COVID-rific, actually. And so she was just up on our Skype on video, and she's still there. But when she switched it to mute, it went to that distressing picture. Do you see that thing?

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192.894 - 211.595 Josh Clark

No, I just see J-R, like the letter J and the letter R. Oh, see. Oh, there she is. She's back. Okay. When she turned it off, though, I get a photograph of Jerry that looks like she's, like, sick in bed or something. It's weird. This is, well, that's just Jerry's look. Maybe so. I don't know.

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Chapter 5: How did the 1920s boom affect miniature golf's popularity?

211.775 - 232.369 Josh Clark

That's a diet of nothing but miso for 15, 20 years we'll do for you. The weirdest thing is this is as close as we've come to normal in four months. I know. Not only is it like normal, it's almost like a throwback. Remember when we had the studio where we would look out the window when she was there? Yeah. Yeah, that was great. It's kind of like this again. She was a window creeper.

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233.176 - 256.247 Josh Clark

Yeah, professionally and in her personal life too. That's right. So this is stuff you should know, everybody. I don't know if I said it. There are probably a few people who are confused and aren't anymore. But we haven't gotten started yet, so prepare to be confused again when we explain something. In particular, Chuck, miniature golf. I got to ask, are you a fan?

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257.408 - 262.094 Josh Clark

This made me want to play again. Like, I grew up playing Putt-Putt. Sure.

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Chapter 6: What unique miniature golf courses can you find today?

262.434 - 285.441 Josh Clark

And have very fond memories of all the different colored golf balls. Yeah. You know, like the water trap that was really just a stagnant little puddle of concrete, you know. But Putt-Putt was wonderful and great. And there were arcades and birthday parties there that featured heavily with G.I. Joe action figures and stuff like that. The good kind, the three and three-quarter inch ones. Mm-hmm.

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285.421 - 316.095 Josh Clark

And, yeah, I am a fan, if not just nostalgically, in general, yes. And which style, and as a listener will see soon, there are a couple of different things, but did you grow up playing just sort of the bare-bones putt-putt or the more miniature golf, clown's mouth, windmill, volcano style? Well, Chuck, if you ask me if I had a rich childhood, I will always tell you, yes, sir. Yes, I did.

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316.135 - 330.306 Josh Clark

And the reason why is because I grew up having putt-putt close by in Toledo, and we played that a lot. And then when my family would vacation in the summers on Catawba Island on Lake Erie, And this was like pre-cleaned up Lake Erie.

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331.047 - 347.997 Josh Clark

There was like a rundown little like mini golf with like clowns mouths and windmills and all that stuff right by the place where we used to stay, like walking distance. And so we'd play there a lot too. So I had the best of both worlds. A really great, just top-notch childhood.

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348.179 - 357.911 Josh Clark

So I grew up playing putt-putt at Stone Mountain Park, which we went to a lot because it was near our church and the youth group would go and do putt-putt nights and stuff.

Chapter 7: How has the design of miniature golf courses evolved over time?

358.812 - 389.793 Josh Clark

So that was a lot of fun. And I was sort of partial to those that were like, you know, the real putt-putt where it requires a little bit of skill. But I am also a sucker for the beach town, volcano, waterfall, go-kart, bumper boat, arcade scene. Yeah. Don't forget laser tag. I never really did laser tag.

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390.254 - 410.147 Josh Clark

I think that came around a little after I was, you know, in my prime years for this kind of thing. Gotcha. Yeah, it wasn't, same here, but I was looking up now they have laser tag at putt-putt places. But I still love those go-karts, man. When we go to Isle of Palms last year, I found a place nearby, and I was like, we got to go. And everyone was kind of like, oh, I don't know.

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410.227 - 420.842 Josh Clark

And the kids were sort of like, yeah, I guess I'll do it. And I was like, guys, we got to go. Right, like what is wrong with all of you? Who are you vacationing with, Chuck? Oh, man, it was so much fun. Is there a carbon monoxide leak at the house you rent?

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Chapter 8: What are some famous miniature golf courses to visit?

421.483 - 442.328 Josh Clark

No, those go-karts, I could do that all day long. Yeah, for sure. And, of course, I got the guy, you know, the teenager, squeaky voice teenager, and I said, hey, man, which one? Which is the fast one? And he was like, number eight. Really? Oh, yeah, and sure enough, it was really fast. You just ran circles around everybody?

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442.448 - 461.008 Josh Clark

I did, such that I even laid off on the gas a little bit just to catch up and let people, you know, act like they did. Outrace me. What a sportsman. Oh, my goodness. Well, we'll talk about go-karts one day more in depth, but today we're just going to focus on the miniature golf, okay? Yeah, this is a pretty interesting history, I think.

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461.393 - 483.378 Josh Clark

Yeah, I had no idea how far back it went until we started researching this. And actually, it goes all the way back to the 19th century. And this is one of those rare things that's been around a while, but you can actually pinpoint like the first one. And the first miniature golf course in the world, as far as anybody knows, is at St. Andrews. It's the Ladies' Putting Club of St. Andrews.

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484.199 - 509.27 Josh Clark

And it was built in 1867 strictly for the women members of the Ladies' Putting Club. Yeah, there's a couple of things at play here, actually really just one thing, which is not letting women do things. Yeah. Because there was a decree basically that women shall not take the club back past their shoulder. The 11th commandment.

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509.51 - 534.836 Josh Clark

Yeah, like a real golf swing in other words was I guess improper for a lady to do. The Victorian era was just so stupid when it came to social constraints. I'm trying to figure out why. Does that—I don't know. Patriarchy, I would guess. Well, I just wonder why a full golf swing, would it make their dress rise a little above the ankle? I just wonder why.

535.596 - 541.083 Josh Clark

I think also women were expected to not overexert themselves physically, especially in public, too.

541.103 - 541.263 Unknown

Right.

541.283 - 566.241 Josh Clark

You could kind of construe that as overexertion. Well, and then there's this, which is from an 1890 book by Scottish baron Lord Wellwood talking about women and when they should golf and when they shouldn't golf. I was going to do a Scottish accent, but I'm just not feeling it. If they choose to play at times when male golfers are feeding or resting, no one can object.

566.402 - 589.904 Josh Clark

But at other times, must we say it, they are in the way. It was kind of snarky to add even the must we say it. Like, do I even need to write this next sentence? It's so just drippingly obvious. But the long, the upshot of this is that's why they created the ladies putting club is just to sort of get rid of them. Yeah, to get them out of the way of the men.

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